OPERATION: TAKEDOWN
by RedBeetle
Summary: This is a short one-shot set in the Avatar world, but, if the Hundred Years War had World War Two style weaponry and tactics. Rated T for violence.


**A/N:** Hello! This is a one-shot, as if AtLA was pushed into the era of World War Two, so with similar weapons, vehicles and strategies. You may notice some similarity between the names of some of the vehicles in this one-shot with some real life vehicles. I am going to base the Fire Nation on the Wehrmacht, or the German Military. The Earth Kingdom will become like the Red Army, therefore using things like human wave attacks. The Water Tribe will take up the form of the UK, because of their shared naval strength. The one-shot will be set in the Day of the Black Sun invasion. Bending will remain in action, along with Aang's Avatar status. BE WARNED, this one-shot may see the deaths of important characters *cough*sokkasdad*cough*. Oh, and graphic violence will ensue. (If you want a song to listen to while reading this, try Give it All by The Amity Affliction, or Never Alone by the same band)

 **B-Day: The Day Of The Black Sun**

 **(Operation TAKEDOWN)**

The submarines shook with the sustained fire presented by the 16-pounders of the Fire Nation. The walls of the sub held, but the sub farthest to the right was not so lucky, and was engulfed in a huge explosion. Katara looked on in shock as machine gun fire raked the wreckage, killing the few men that had survived the explosion. "TWENTY SECONDS TO TOUCHDOWN! EVERYONE TO THEIR POSITIONS!" Sokka called, and Katara ran to where he, Toph and her dad were waiting. Toph gave Katara a strained smile, and soon the grating of the sub against the concrete of the dry dock. As the door flew down, the non-bending soldiers in front of Katara ran forward, screaming war cries. Katara ran out of the door, and looked in shock at the already large amount of dead and dying. As she watched, Pipsqueak was ripped to pieces by machine gun fire, and fell with a wet thump. The Duke started to cry, but Sokka shook Katara out of her shocked daze. "Come on, we need to move up the beach! The follow-up waves should be arriving soon!" Katara nodded, and charged into battle.

High above the battle, three squadrons of Earth Kingdom long-range ground attack aircraft began their descent to strafe the bunkers surrounding the dry-dock. As they released their bombs, a new threat reared its ugly head. "Fire Nation fighters! Oh-seven hundred and closing!" The squadron leaders acknowledged this new threat, and directed their squadrons to attack the enemy. The air battle quickly claimed the lives of the majority of the Earth Kingdom airmen, but the Fire Nation squadrons were completely wiped out. As the burning corpses of planes and men alike fell to the floor, the remaining attack planes formed into one squadron, and began to strafe again.

Teo was driving the first of the new Earth Kingdom E-34s, and was carving a path through the outdated Komodo One's, and the troops behind him were quickly following. His father was driving a supply truck loaded up with blasting jelly, to blast through the outer wall. Teo was none too happy with this, as he realised that the Fire Nation would target _all_ of the supply trucks, regardless of what they were carrying. His crew were calling out to each other, but Teo ignored everything unless his name was called. He watched as a strike aircraft kamikazed into a bunker, destroying the bunker and collapsing the cliff. An explosion behind him shook the whole tank, and the cries of the men outside gave Teo a good idea of what had happened. A shout from the tank commander confirmed it. "A supply truck was hit! We got two tanks and a platoon of non-bending infantry down! Keep moving!" A single tear slipped down Teo's face, and he drove even faster, determined to make his father's sacrifice worthwhile.

Appa was taking heavy fire as he flew towards the cliff where the two remaining bunkers were situated. Sokka took Katara, and shook hands with his dad. "Meet back here after you destroy the bunkers." Sokka nodded, and sprinted towards the first bunker. The screams of combat still reached to his ears, even at this height. The follow-up wave had arrived, and had taken less casualties than the first wave. A third wave was on the way as well, but it possessed mostly infantry, as that was what the Earth Kingdom had specialised in. As Katara and Sokka ran towards the bunker, a strike plane flew overhead, and dropped two bombs directly onto the bunker. "DOWN!" Sokka screamed, and shielded Katara from being ripped to shreds by the shrapnel. As Sokka looked towards the bunker his father was to take down, he watched as his father entered, and as the sound of multiple screams and submachine gun fire travelled over the cliff. Sokka smiled, knowing his dad could do the job, but then, the worst happened.

A strike plane was hit.

It tumbled out of the sky. The pilot and gunner both ejected, and were quickly shot to pieces by the Fire Nation ground forces.

The plane kept falling.

Sokka screamed for his dad to get out of the bunker.

The plane hit the bunker.

The bunker tumbled off the cliff.

"DAD!"

As the combined forces advanced on the Fire Nation wall, the Foggy Swamp tribesmen began to gather up all of the dead, and place them lined out on the beach. They also began to heal the wounded. Katara and Sokka landed at the impromptu hospital, and Huu moved to greet them. "Hello there you two." Sokka looked around wild-eyed. "Where is he? Where Huu, where?" Huu held up one hand. "Look, it's not pretty, but I can show you where he is. I must warn you though, he… doesn't look like himself." Katara began to cry, and Sokka looked pretty close to crying as well. Huu sighed, and led the two of them to the mortuary tent. As they entered the tent Huu showed them, Katara almost fainted.

The corpse before them was not their father.

All that was left was his upper torso, his right arm, and his face. The rest of his body was completely unrecognisable, twisted and charred. Katara fell on the bed and began to wail, and Sokka broke down into tears.

Their only parent was now gone.

Toph flung rock after rock at the wall, but it refused to budge. She was crying as well, having seen Haru stabbed through the chest by a Fire Nation trooper, Teo's tank engulfed in flames after it ran over a mine, The Hippo and The Boulder both being crushed by a shot-down Fire Nation fighter and The Duke having his head blown off by an 88-shell. Most of her friends were gone, but the majority of the invasion force was intact. Haru's father, Tyro, had been evacuated to the rear of their lines after having a shotgun blast sever his left arm. A few of the E-34s burned behind her, and she swore she saw Teo's wheelchair-glider in the wreckage. She was still crying, and collapsed behind some cover, thinking of how hopeless this was. How many people had died here today, and for what? Aang probably hadn't found the Fire Lord, and she was pretty sure that Meat Head and Beauty queen had died in the explosion that had destroyed the second-last bunker.

Toph stopped crying, and sat there, next to the dismembered corpse of a Fire Nation bender, staring up at the empty sky, as the battle raged around her.

Eventually the wall fell, but only after three full platoons of Earth Kingdom non-benders had sacrificed themselves to try and plant explosives on the wall. Toph followed her allies into the breach, and saw Appa flying ahead, leading the charge. Eventually, the area around the tower was cleared, and a command point set up. Appa landed in front of it, and Sokka and Katara approached the tent, Toph could see that their eyes were red rimmed. "Where's Hakoda?" Katara began to cry again, and Sokka simply shook his head. "Dad's gone."

Toph felt tears well up in her eyes for Katara and Sokka's loss. She looked away, and began to list of their losses "We're all that's left. Pipsqueak was ripped apart by machine gun fire. Teo's dad was killed when his truck exploded. Haru was ambushed by a non-bender, and stabbed through the chest. Teo's gone too, his tank exploded after it rolled over a mine. The Hippo and The Boulder, they're both gone too. A plane crashed down on the cover they were behind, and killed three benders along with them. The Duke… he was riding on a tank when an 88-shell… blew his head off."

A gasp from both Sokka and Katara showed the shock from the violent deaths suffered by their friends. "Finally, Tyro was evacuated. A shotgun blew his left arm off. But, I got a message a few minutes ago. He died not long after he arrived from blood loss." Sokka and Katara both looked dumbstruck at the fact that all of their friends were dead. "The casualties… out of 10,000 landed, we have 2,567 dead, 267 wounded and 23 missing. This includes tank crews, aircraft crews and sub crews." Katara looked behind Toph, and her eyes lit up. "Aang! You're okay!"

Sokka, Toph and Katara all hugged Aang tightly. Aang looked confused as they all began to cry. "What happened?" Toph sobbed as she told him. "Pipsqueak, The Duke, Teo, Haru, Hakoda, Tyro, The Boulder, The Hippo and Teo's dad are all… all dead Aang! Along with over 2,000 other people!" Aang's eyes widened as Toph told him what had happened to all of their friends, and he began to cry as well. There they stood, the greatest heroes of the last age, crying in a circle.

As the world burned around them.


End file.
